Note: Oh no! Another post that was swallowed in the drafts!
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Thanks for the review, Relme! You can find her at her tumblr, Reluctantly, Me. If you’d like to submit a guest review for the Lesbrary, email me at [email protected]!
When I read for pleasure, I want escapist entertainment
- Minimal drama/angst
- OK with predictability as long as I care about the characters
- Care enough to keep reading but not so much it keeps me from sleeping at night
- Want to feel good if I think about it days/weeks later
Radclyffe writes everything from erotica to romances
- Even branching into paranormal with new series
- In romances continues chars through other books
- Sometimes as a series
- Sometimes as secondary chars in other books
My favorite lesbian romances are like really well developed light erotica stories with characters I care about and a decent plot
- Buy it for the relationships not the plot
- Writes characters I care about and want to follow
- Crafts good relationships
- Platonic
- Sexual
Writes about lesbians
- Unapologetic lesbians
- Not queer; lesbian
- Few gay men, bis, trans* (I can only think of one gay man)
- Even coming out stories are about lesbians, not angsting straight women
- Coming out is an awakening not a conversion
- Professionals in 20s to 30s
- Almost always one of the primary chars is a dr or surgeon
- Main chars all hott
- Most are child free but some have children
- Not overly tender/sentimental
Romances almost always have some hyper-driven/broken/isolated/alienated functional recluse as one of the main chars
- Even if the brokenness is only self-perceived
- Loss
- Death
- Break up
- Disability/illness/injury
- Broken main character isn’t rescued as much as discovered/uncovered
Friendship and chosen family are big subtexts
- It’s a whole lesbian family + chosen family
- With and without kids
- Different ages, incl. mentoring
Quality of books can be shockingly uneven
- Some are real clunkers
- Dull
- Undeveloped
- Some are repeats of existing books (Trauma Alert and Fated Love are darn close to the same book)
- Characters repeat (witty best friend)
Some clunky writing
- Sex scenes get repetitive
- Lots of repetitive description
- Hard fist of arousal
- Suddenly, painfully/ terribly, painfully/etc.
